New School Nurse!

[Mr.Nurse190]

Hello, fellow nurses. I am new to Allnurses. I have recently accepted a school nurse position and will be caring for students in grades 5k - 5th grade. I have been a substitute school nurse since January but will be transitioning to a full time staff member in August. In addition to being a new school nurse, the elementary school is currently under construction. The hope is that the school will be open in August. Therefore, I will have the opportunity to organize and develop the health clinic from scratch. I am looking for advice from some of my more experienced colleagues. I appreciate your input.

[OldDude]

Welcome to the farm!! There are a few threads on the school nurse forum you can look through on new to school nursing. Otherwise, don't hesitate to ask! Congratulations!

[GdBSN, RN]

Congrats and welcome!!!

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

Check out the instructions for Wednesdays and good luck!!

[RobotechTD]

Welcome to School Health! Remember that ice packs cures everything. Read the the threads in school nurses. You could clean a lot from them. Also see the video for Barb G. She has a lot of good pointers.

[WineRN]

Welcome Welcome!

And how awesome that you get to set up from the ground up! I'm not sure how much input you will have but my list of demands would include

1. having an attached rest room with shower

2. washer and dryer in office

3. at least 2-3 cots

4. a small isolation room (this is one of the most used rooms in my office for kids with migraine, teachers who need to pump or my emotional kiddos who need a safe break space.)

5. As much counter space as possible and all locking cabinets.

6. A refrigerator or at least an ice maker.

7. A not built in desk (that is one of my only complaints about my office, in an active shooter scenairo I have NOTHING that I can use in my office to barricade the door because everything is built into the walls.)

8. See if any of the parents in the district would be willing to volunteer and paint something fun on your wall. Two of our district nurse's office did this (one is a jungle and the other is a bunch of dr seuss stuff) and it's so cute!

[pedi_nurse]

7. A not built in desk (that is one of my only complaints about my office, in an active shooter scenairo I have NOTHING that I can use in my office to barricade the door because everything is built into the walls.)

I see people talk about barricading with desks a lot. This must be a new thing... our school is old and ALL the doors open outwards into the hallway. :/

[pedi_nurse]

Welcome!! I've only been a school nurse for 2 years, but love it. I'd recommend establishing some rules/boundaries for your clinic before the school year starts. Such as requiring passes to see the nurse unless there is an emergency. I'd also establish what the protocol is for immunization requirements (state law here says they have to have them BEFORE starting class, but the district I work for is really lax). I worked with my registrar to make sure they check with me so I can verify shot records before they even register the kid. I'd also recommend scheduling screenings as soon as possible in the school year. Get them out of the way!

As far as setting up the clinic goes - lots of bandaids and ice (of course)! Also, I'm at a middle school, so I found a stand alone clothes rack to hang all our extra clothes on. It helps cut down of searching for the right sizes and clean up. I also keep a stash of new socks and underwear of many sizes. Our kids are lower income and sometimes mom can't leave work to bring a change of clothes. I also purchased spray deodorant for the clinic, $1 fleece blankets for kids with fevers, dirty clothes hamper, scanner for paper records since we are supposedly transitioning to entirely paperless, label maker because it's awesome for subs coming in. I also sent up a huge 24 count organizer for all the copies of forms I use. Oh, and I got an outdoor rug to use in the clinic to make it cozier, as well as some fake plants and artwork. - These are just some of the things that weren't already part of the clinic here, that I found to be helpful personally.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Welcome to School Health! Remember that ice packs cures everything. Read the the threads in school nurses. You could clean a lot from them. Also see the video for Barb G. She has a lot of good pointers.

And saltines, for the love of Pete, do NOT forget the saltines!!

[bsyrn, ASN, RN]

Welcome! We are all a wealth of information, support and knowledge :) Glad to have you on our team!

[LikeTheDeadSea, MSN, RN]

I see people talk about barricading with desks a lot. This must be a new thing... our school is old and ALL the doors open outwards into the hallway. :/

Same!

[MrNurse(x2), ADN]

Call local school nurses and ask them to see their accommodations. Never working in one will make it very hard to understand what you need, I know, I was one of those that was new to school nursing.